The action came as county supervisors hired a $200,000 consultant to study turning Lefty Gomez Field in Fairfax into a "dual use" facility as a flood control basin requiring a small dam and creek spillway.

The latest milestone in the county's $160 million plan to replumb the Ross Valley unfolded amid protests by San Anselmo neighbors who oppose plans to turn Memorial Park into a flood control basin.

The supervisors, acting as flood control and water conservation directors, increased the region's hotly contested flood fee 3 percent to about $129 for most single family homes on small lots, up from $125, and to $31 for most condos. The levy was enacted after a ballot box controversy split the community in 2007 and became so contentious it reached the state Supreme Court.

County flood control engineer Tracy J. Clay contended in a report that the fee increase was needed "due to the commencement of major projects and changes in labor and construction costs." The increase in fees for 15,000 Ross Valley parcels will generate an extra $66,346, covering the core contract for a public relations consultant needed to sell the Ross Valley improvement program to local residents.

CirclePoint of Oakland got the job of educating the populace, an effort that could cost as much as $93,000 — and may prove daunting in some neighborhoods in light of flood fee and project protests sounded Tuesday.

"I recommend you do not approve this increase but rather wind down the tax and refund whatever is left," Barry Spitz of San Anselmo said. "Millions of dollars have been collected at this point doing nothing but enriching a bunch of consultants."

Steve Emery of San Anselmo agreed, saying plans to turn Memorial Park near his home into a flood basin are all wet. Hiking the fee adds "insult to injury," he said.

Nancy Oswald urged officials to put park basin plans on hold pending work to expand Phoenix Lake as a flood control project. "See what good that does," she said of the ongoing lake project. "We're barreling forward here ... Slow down here and think about it."

But three officials who serve on the Ross Valley flood board, including San Anselmo Mayor Tom McInerney, urged the supervisors to move ahead as recommended by staff. "This work is critical," McInerney said, noting the region has been devastated by periodic floods over the years.

Supervisor Katie Rice, who is championing the flood control program after inheriting it from her late boss, Supervisor Hal Brown, asserted the flood basin projects are conceptual and that a lengthy "public process" including hearings will be held.

But officials clearly expect the flood program to move forward. "We've got a program," Rice said. "It wasn't drawn up out of thin air."

Rice, who faces re-election in two years, faces a key challenge assuring some flood control improvements make sense. Although no Fairfax resident showed up Tuesday to ring alarm bells, several town officials have raised eyebrows at plans to convert Gomez Field into a flood control basin. The proposal moved ahead Tuesday as supervisors hired URS Consultants of Oakland for $198,199 to complete a geotechnical feasibility study of turning the field at White Hill School into a floodwater detention basin.

The analysis will determine whether the field can be used both as a flood basin and a recreational field, with use as a flood basin expected just once every seven to 10 years. A drainage system would ensure the field remains better than ever, officials added.

The Gomez Field project includes a concrete dam and spillway in Fairfax Creek, putting the program under jurisdiction of the California Division of Safety of Dams.

"If you're going to do this to Lefty Gomez Field, I really wish you'd change its name," said Emery, calling the project an insult. He warned that officials are wasting flood control money on projects that "may not pass political muster."

But officials indicated the political horse is already out of the barn.

"The decisions about whether to or why have long been made," Supervisor Steve Kinsey observed.